How To Get Rid Of Mockingbirds In The Most Natural Way
I love Mockingbirds. I like to listen to its songs at night. But when it’s nesting season, all they do is sing the whole day, and it starts to get annoying. The melody will turn into noise, and it can ruin my mood entirely.
Besides the fact that they are disturbing, I can’t get a good night sleep. When I tried to get rid of them the first time, it was out of frustration. I wasn’t prepared and properly guided. It was a success alright, but I learned it the hard way.
Do you know how to get rid of Mockingbirds? My simple guide is to help you out of the misery that Mockingbirds bring. You’ll get rid of these birds the natural and safest way!
Table of Contents
Can you kill mockingbirds?
Legally, NO!
Mockingbirds are protected by federal and state law. Therefore, it is illegal to trap, capture, trade, transport, or kill them without a permit or authorization from the federal and state.
And, you can't even legally disturb their nests, eggs, or young. This means that you cannot remove one from your yard without getting a permit.
Even if you had a permit, disturbing or harming these birds on public land or any national park would be illegal.
Mockingbirds have excellent memories and are not scared off easily.
Mockingbirds will remember people who have threatened them or their young and will attack whenever they encounter them in the future. Once they have attacked once, they will attack again.
Mockingbirds are highly territorial and will dive-bomb anyone who invades their turf.
So, you shouldn’t pick fights with mockingbirds.
What You Need To Prepare
To get rid of Mockingbirds, you need to be ready and prepare the following tools that you will use in every step. These are the weapons for your battle.
1. Super Soaker: Good thing I bought my son a massive water gun on his birthday. Water hose in your garden could be useful and the Nerf gun too.
2. Water: It would be nice if you have a faucet near the tree where the Mockingbirds are staying for easy access to water. If you plan to use a Nerf gun, make sure to pick the soft bullets.
3. Handy Telescopes Or Binoculars: With the thick leaves of the tree, it is hard to spot the exact location of the Mockingbirds. The binoculars will help you see the location.
4. Lights: Flashlights, penlights or well, maybe torches are essential for your safety. Use this to survey the entire area for clear visual and avoid safety hazards. Make sure no live electricity wires are hovering near the tree. Sharp rocks, pointy branches or bushes around that may hurt your feet.
5. Figures Of An Owl Or A Hawk: Do you remember the classic scarecrow? It’s the same idea. Since it’s the modern times, you can make a figure of an owl or a hawk.
Birds are scared of owls and hawks. A cardboard material is best and easy to use in making one. Challenge your art and crafting ability.
I bought an ultrasonic pest repeller the last time, the kind that could drive away mice. Some say it will work, but it only disrupted the birds a bit, like they appear to be confused for a short while. They never left the tree, or maybe I did not use the right timing at all.
5. Pruner/Nets: I know you have this to maintain your garden.
5. Earplugs: Just in case everything fails, well, earplugs are helpful. Headphones or anything that helps cut the noise will do.
Some Important Facts That You May Want To Consider
- Mockingbirds are very aggressive during mating season. To avoid being attacked by them, the best time to get rid of them or prune your yard is between September to February.
- According to some studies, Mockingbirds can recognize people that they see as threats and those that are not. I mean, just a heads up. They may declare war on you first and show you their bomb-attacks!
Ways to Get Rid Of Mockingbirds
I am sure that you are in complete surrender to your anger by this time. Otherwise, you won’t be bothering yourself to get this busy at this hour of the night. Good, your rage can help you in your conquest!
But, remember you are going to get rid of the Mockingbirds. Don’t kill them, will you? Those poor little things are just hoping to meet their mates and multiply.
1. Lights.
Mockingbirds don’t like bright lights. So use a motion-activated light or set up a camera with a flash setting to scare them away from your property. You can also try to scare them away using a stuffed owl or by hanging CDs in your trees.
2. Hawks or Owl Decoys.
Fake Owls are also a good way to get rid of mockingbirds because they are the natural enemy of the mockingbird in the wild.
Mockingbirds will avoid areas where they think owls are living. The problem with using these is that not all decoys look real. So this may not be effective if you want it to be convincing enough for others to believe there really is an owl on your property!
Try these life-Like owl decoys and let the mockingbird be scared away from your property.
An owl decoy with a motion detector is a good idea. It starts flashing its eyes when it senses motion.
3. Loud sounds.
You can use air horns, a CD player with loud music, or sirens to blast the mockingbird away from your property. This will scare them off momentarily, but they will likely not give up easily.
4. Pruned trees.
Mockingbirds love to make a nest in trees. Pruning trees make your yard less attractive to them.
If you want the mockingbirds to leave, keep pruning the tree so it doesn't provide too much shade and shelter anymore.
But if they already built their nests, legally, you will have no other option but to wait until they've left their nests before trimming that tree.
5. Biosonics.
The technique uses recorded sounds of another animal, such as a hawk or owl, to scare away the bird.
You can set up these devices in your backyard to deter mockingbirds and other birds from entering your property.
You can try this youtube video and see how you can scare mockingbirds away from your backyards.
5. Motion-activated sprinklers.
Motion-activated sprinklers or spraying water can be used effectively to get rid of mockingbirds.
It is a good idea to have the sprinklers set to come on at night when mockingbirds are most active.
Mockingbirds don’t like to get wet and will avoid this area immediately once they feel the water on their feathers.
This is a humane way to get rid of mockingbirds without harming them.
6. Motion-activated high-frequency ultrasound repellent devices.
High-frequency ultrasound devices can be used to drive away different types of birds from your backyard. For example, when a mockingbird's activity is detected, it will trigger the ultrasonic loudspeaker to emit a sound that humans can't hear but birds can hear. This sound is high-pitched and uncomfortable for the birds, but it will not harm them in any way.
The use of these devices tends to be effective over time because once a mockingbird has triggered them, they tend to avoid your property from then on.
Best of all, the prices of devices like this are affordable enough for you to have one in each of your backyard areas.
7. Earplugs
Well, if you’ve got a soft heart and just can’t do it for fear of harming the birds, then this method may be suitable for you.
Better leave the Mockingbirds alone. Anyway, they will eventually fly away to another place after the nesting season or when they can’t find a mate. Make use of your earplugs to conceal the noise, or you can put on your headphones, and play some favorite music.
How Mockingbirds Choose Their Nest?
Mockingbirds are not picky about the type of tree used for their nests. They can use both coniferous and deciduous trees, thick bushes, and also vines as nest materials. The mockingbird will choose a spot in your property that is out of sight from predators, which could be close to water or near to their food source.
Nests usually have an outer framework built out of twigs, vines, branches, or grasses, with finer grasses making up the inside. Nests are commonly built 5-20 feet above the ground on a sturdy branch.
Mockingbirds will lay three to five eggs and incubate them for about two weeks before hatching happens.
Once the eggs hatch, both the male and female birds sit on their young until they become strong enough to fly back into trees by themselves. Both parents also bring food to feed their babies during this time as well.
What do Mockingbirds eat?
Mockingbirds are omnivorous, which means that they eat both animals and plants. Mockingbirds typically eat insects, fruits, berries, and seeds from the ground. They might try to eat small animals like frogs or lizards if they can catch them in your yard, but this is an occasional diet.
You could find that your mockingbird will also hang around your backyard feeder at times, so you should be aware of loose birdseed on the ground, which may lure it into approaching closer towards you.
Why Are Mockingbirds Aggressive?
Territory
Mockingbirds are territorial birds and will aggressively defend their territory from any intruders, both big and small. If a possible intruder comes too close while within a certain distance away from their nest, the mockingbirds will start barking loudly as a warning sign for trespassers to stay away.
Breeding
Mockingbirds are more aggressive during their breeding season (late February to July). Both male and female birds will not back down once they see or hear something perceived as a threat.
They might even fly down close to the intruder's head as she tries to protect her young babies.
They might land on your head and try to peck at you if you're near the nest.
If the potential threat is still too close, they would attack by dive-bombing or attacking with their claws.
Proactive Defense
A mockingbird will get aggressive if you're near their nest, even though they don't know what your intentions are. Mockingbirds tend to be suspicious of humans in general, so it's best to observe the bird before making any movements.
If you happen to get too close, the mockingbird might start flying around and barking loudly at you, which could scare some people since it looks like the bird is going straight for them.
You should not try to approach a mockingbird's nest because you could end up getting attacked by this bird, even though this isn't always common with these birds. It all depends on how territorial your local population of mockingbirds is.
If you have pets around like cats and dogs in your yard, the mockingbird may view them as possible threats, so it becomes necessary for your pets to stay inside while having bird problems.
CONCLUSION
So which are you? Are you the fighter type, or the soft-hearted? Mockingbirds don’t flock, and if they love your garden, they can be useful at times. They fed themselves with grasshoppers and other garden pests.
Do you think my methods are workable? Try it if you’re determined to get rid of Mockingbirds. I did it, and honestly, I had the fun of the water gun much more than getting rid of them. If you have another gentle way on how to get rid of mockingbirds, will you share it with me? Please?
